CES 2008: iRiver Unit 2 uber-device

Convergence can often be seen as a dirty word, but iRiver's Unit 2 (which we first caught a glimpse of in January last year, then again in July) seems to have convinced everybody who tried it at CES 2008 that putting a WiFi radio, CD/DVD player, VoIP phone, GPS, streaming and download into a single machine is nothing but A Good Thing, and well worth waiting (and saving up the $700 they estimate it'll cost) until 2009 to pick one up. A 30GB drive, SD slot, removable display-cum-independent-7-inch-PMP (800 x 480, 16:9 aspect) and a remote that folds out to give a full QWERTY for messaging round out what could be the gadget of next year.

Engadget spent some time playing with the Unit 2 and shot a video of iRiver's glee:

I honestly can't wait to get my hands on this - some are complaining about the price being high, but for what you get I think it's worth it.